Idle Glances
by NeonLit
Summary: A story following Tear Stained Dirt. Follows the path of Boruto and Sarada as Boruto tries to gain revenge for the murder of his father and Sarada tries to stop him from drifting off the path.
1. Saving Graces

It had been two weeks.

Two weeks since one of the most decorated heroes of the Elemental Nations had fallen to a cowardly assassination.

Two weeks since a family had been destroyed and ripped apart.

Boruto was silent as he stood upon the top of his father's stone Hokage head, the gentle breeze rustling his golden locks, brushing it over his eyes. His face was covered in dried tear stains, as it had been for the last few days whilst he'd been sitting there. The emptiness that came from not having the big ball of light that was his dad around had left a great impact upon his family, one that he noticed more by the day. His mother no longer smiled or sung whilst she cooked breakfast for his sister, his sister no longer run around the house, full of life. She would simply walk around with her face downcast, before leaving to train with her team under Moegi. He missed her sweet smiles and happiness, her utter energy. Even his littlest sister, who doesn't really have a concept of what's going on could at least pick up on the sombre mood and would stay quiet for most of the day, and spent a lot of time reading her little books. It's a bit odd that a child so young was already reading, but with everything going on, Boruto had hardly enough time to focus on her accomplishments, as great as they were.

A quiet crunching of dirt signalled the arrival of an older shinobi, although it's not Konohamaru, like he had expected. The bright green flash showed that it belonged to no other than Rock Lee, who looks uncharacteristically serious. Boruto sighed and waited for the inevitable speech about youth, springtime's and competition to come forth, but he heard nothing of the sort, simply. He simply leaned against one of the stone locks of hair and smiled, a semi-sad smile, not anything like the ones he was known for.

"I thought I would find you here, Boruto-kun" he spoke, his voice, usually so eccentric and energetic is cool and collected, but empathetic.

Boruto's eyebrows knotted together, but he ignored the older man, focusing his eyes across the lower village; watching the people on the street rushing from place to place, whilst shinobi run across rooftops. For a few days after the funeral, all missions were cancelled and all the shinobi had been recalled to take part in the mourning. Lee himself had been on a long running peace mission in the Land of Vegetables, but he and his genin team had been recalled to join the mourning of their leader.

"Boruto-kun, I want you to know something," Lee's eyes are filled with emotion, which was typical of him, really. Without waiting for a response, he continued, "When your father was your age, he spent a lot of his time worrying about his friends, specifically Sasuke-kun. Do you know why your father worried about him?" It always amused him how Lee could make everything sound so extremely dramatic, but right now you aren't really in the mood for amusement. Tiredly, Boruto nodded his head, his eyes unfocussed.

"Sasuke-kun lost his family in an attack, all of them were murdered. He was so filled with anger he promised revenge on all those who had wronged them and so all he sought was revenge. It consumed him and he hurt many people around him, including his future wife, Sakura-san." A stray tear slid down his face, clearing some dust from his cheek. "He was hate-filled, evil and horrifying to witness. He wasn't the man that you know today. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you, Boruto-kun?"

His eyes rose to meet Lee's and the adolescent slightly shook his head.

"I can see Sasuke-kun's eyes in yours."

Silence fell over the two, no more noise than the gentle wind, rustling through the cliff faces. For a while, all Boruto could hear was the rise and fall of his own chest and the gentle sound of Lee, as he moved his feet, unsettled by the silence.

"Lee-sensei, I need to make up for my dad's death. I need to get revenge for him." His words were short, and cut tight, no longer matching his usual bouncy tone of happiness and light heartedness. "They ruined everything, my mother isn't happy anymore, Himawari doesn't even smile. Kami, even Mina is quiet. They're broken, and those animals don't even know what they did." The coldness in his tone sent a chill through Lee's spine. "I'm going to end them, sensei."

With that last chilling condemnation, he jumped to his feet and leapt off the head, disappearing into the lower village, leaving Lee to look sadly over his figure. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I just couldn't do what you could."

. . .

Sarada was standing by a small bridge in the lower village when she noticed Boruto rush past, his head down and hands shoved deep within his jacket pockets. She reached out a hand to call to him, but he was already gone. She sighed; it feels like forever since they hung out together and trained. Absent-mindedly, she played with the Konoha armband adorning her arm. In her distractedness, she barely noticed the approach of Shikadai and Inojin, the latter who had his arm raised in greeting, whilst Inojin simply nodded his greeting. The two joined Sarada, who notices an exasperated look on Shikadai's face.

"What's the matter, Shikadai-san? You look pissed off," Sarada's spoke out loud before she even realised it.

Brow furrowed and a scowl contorting his face, he replied, "It's that damned Boruto. Ever since his dad died, he's been a pain in all of our asses. Hell, my dad died too and I'm upset as well, but does he have to be so rude? It's so tiresome." Whilst his tone is exasperated, it's clear as day that any emotions he was having regarding the death of his father were being held back by his sheer will. For a few moments, she considered holding back her voice before she reached up and adjusted her glasses.

"He reminds me of stories about my father."

The boys looked at her, their eyebrows raised. Well, Shikadai's eyebrows were raised; Inojin seems to take after his father at times, keeping his expression deliberately unreadable. The kids had heard rumours about the older Uchiha's past, sometimes offhanded comments by parents, sometimes villagers whispering when the man walks through the village. Whilst most people talked about his strength and prowess, there were always the not-so-kind whispers that went on, looks of anger, and disgust.

Sarada sighed and gestures to a nearby bench. "Sit down, I've gotta tell you some things about Papa."

The two boys exchanged a brief glance before sitting on the bench. She knotted her hands together, twisting her hands in a frustrated manner, before leaning back onto the brick wall that made up the other side of the bridge. "Before I tell you guys, I want you to know that Papa is a good person now, he's not the person he was in these stories."

Another glance, this time a much longer, drawn out one, but both the boys returned to looking at her and they nodded silently at the dark haired girl.

With another sigh, she began to talk.

. . .

_I first learnt about Papa's past when he and Mama came to me after my 13__th__ birthday, when I was training for the Chuunin exam. They both sat me down and told me that now that I was 13, it was time for me to know the full truth about their past. I'd had a vague idea that some bad things had happened, but the amount of sadness on their faces when they started to talk about their early years made me realise just how bad it was._

_Mama talked a lot about Team 7 and how they were put together under Kakashi, and how they went on to form a tight bond, despite Papa's attempt to ignore them. Those early stories were light hearted and you could almost see the pain in Papa's face, as if remembering them caused him a great deal of pain. _

_What came next was Papa explaining their first attempt at the Chuunin exam and how they'd first met Orochimaru. I remembered having nightmares for ages about this horrifying man, who had a body like a snake, so much that I could even see your dad without being scared, Inojin. They talked about how he had emblazoned his curse mark onto father and how it'd hurt him to his core. Their faces were so sad, it was like they were reliving it right in front of me._

_They talked about the disastrous end to the exam, with the invasion of the Sand and Sound, the death of the Third and Orochimaru losing the use of his arm. At this point, like you, I was wondering what father had done that was so bad. What came next though… that scared me. They started to talk about the arrival of the Sound Four, who had wooed my papa with stories of great power from his Curse Mark and my father's jealousy of Naruto had led to him taking the offer up and defecting from Konoha in the middle of the night. It was at this point Mama's eyes had swelled with tears, remembering the scene as she described her plea with Papa to bring him back._

_It was horrible._

_Mum led the next part, as dad wasn't conscious during it to explain it, explaining how Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji and Neji had gone on a desperate rescue mission but failed to stop Papa, the chase ending with Naruto and him fighting in a deathmatch at the Valley of the End. Papa then explained that he was not proud of what he did during the time period and then began to explain some of the things he'd done to gain power, like developing the Chidori technique further as well as his desperation to kill his brother. When Mama explained the next bit, I'd wanted to cry. Father, upon seeing Mama and Naruto for the first time in years had immediately attempted to kill them, in an attempt to cut himself free of the bonds that he felt were holding him back in his quest._

_He failed of course, but they went on to talk about how they'd clashed with Papa several times over the next few years, as well as Mama making an attempt on his life once the other members of the Konoha 11 had decided that enough was enough. Papa was so quiet at this point; I had to struggle to hear his voice as he spoke of the madness and revenge-tainted anger that had consumed him at this point, talking about his mission to kill the former head of the ANBU, Danzo and how that quest had brought him to the Five Kage Summit, where he'd clashed with the likes of Gaara and the old Kazekage. They talked about how father had become so utter consumed with hatred due to the revelation that the slaughter of his family had been orchestrated by Danzo and the village elders, who'd forced his brother to do it in an attempt to hold off the impending Uchiha coup. _

_The shame on Papa's face as he'd tried to explain how the Uchiha Curse of Hatred had driven him utterly mad at that point, quietly describing how he'd tried to kill Mama. He went on to talk about his leaving of the Akatsuki, the organisation that were attempting to catch Boruto's dad, and talked about how he'd met his reanimated brother and their fight to defeat Kabuto. The look in Papa's eye…It was so utterly saddening to see him so lost. Mama and Papa told me about Sasuke reanimating Orochimaru and the Hokage, to ask them about the village, and why they defended it. Father talked about how he'd taken their word and joined the fight against Obito and Madara Uchiha, who'd asked him to join their side, but he refused. I was so proud of him at the moment, but the story wasn't quite finished._

_This was the first part of the story where Papa actually began to cry, as he told of his attempts to force Mama to hate him through a violent genjutsu, casting her into a torturous world where he threw a Chidori through her chest. The two of them were holding each other's hands so tightly that their hands were turning white with the grip. It was with a bitter look that Father had explained his plan to redirect the world's hatred onto himself, recreating the hokage system anew. Papa told of how he'd challenged Naruto to fight again in the Valley of the End and how their immense fight destroyed the valley around them, as well as their left and right arms respectively. He talked about how he finally had comes to term with his spiritual bond to Sasuke and how they'd reunited Team 7 with Kakashi. At this point, I was kind of aware of the events, as I'd heard a bit of how Mama had learnt that Papa loved her._

_They told me a little about their relationship in the next few years and how they'd finally come to be together before my birth. It was a long time and I was horrified by how Papa had been in those years, so I swore to myself to make sure that I would never embrace the Uchiha Curse of Hatred._

. . .

She raised her head and looks at the two boys who look like they'd just been bashed in the face with a horrifying revelation. Which, in a way, they really had been. Both had been trained at various points by Sasuke and the revelation that he'd done some horrible things was a bit of an eye opener for the both. They'd merely assumed that he'd been involved in the ANBU and had committed some less than admirable missions, not that he'd become an international criminal and committed murder of high-ups within their own village, a stand in Hokage no less.

Shikadai groaned a little and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I should have known this, I should have put the pieces together and thought logically. Ugh, how tiresome." Inojin was silent, his face a vacuous space, merely showing off that he was obviously considering the story at length against the other narratives that he'd heard about the War and the Uchiha. Sai had never really spoken in a positive light towards Sasuke, but he'd also never gone into detail about why he didn't like the man.

"I wouldn't blame you guys if you disliked, or even hated my Papa now, but can you see what I'm getting at with Boruto?" Sarada's words cut through the temporary silence like a hot knife through butter, startling the two boys. "Boruto is so much angrier since the death of his dad, and he doesn't talk about it, he just trains incessantly, trying to master all the techniques he can and hurting himself to an extreme in his efforts." She shook her head at the image of Boruto covered from head to toe in bruises and blood like he had the other night. "It's so annoying that he'd take it all upon himself and not let us help," she muttered. Shikadai snorted and Sarada allows herself a small grin at the first sign of the old Shikadai since his father's death. Ever since he'd been just as sarcastic, but his mannerisms had dropped off, as if he were too tired to care anymore.

"So we must do our best to keep Boruto safe from the danger of revenge." Inojin was quiet, but his words carried an air of strength. He'd had a close friendship with Boruto, despite their different natures and Sarada always smirked a little, as she thought it may be more than a friendship for Inojin. She'd noticed the crush had come out a bit since their graduation from the Academy, but never mentioned it, as she wasn't even sure if Inojin himself was aware of it.

The boys leaned in, a conspiratorial look on their faces. "We should get some of our classmates together and keep him busy. Help him with training, cook him some food, whatever." The look on Shikadai's face was downright intimidating. Sarada idly thought that it must be the dissonance that arose from his eyeliner and green eyes. "If we keep him moving, keep him doing missions and don't let him fall too deep into his misery like your dad did, Sarada, then we might just be able to keep him from going down the same path." The trio nodded and bumped fists. As the plans stewed together, they started to realise that there might be a chance to help their friend.


	2. Friends and Mentors

The lake was quiet at this time of year, so it was the perfect place for any genin or Chuunin looking to hone their skills in ninjutsu or taijutsu. Boruto had taken to spending most of his days there, practicing combining his shuriken techniques with his elemental affinity. The effects were quite evident, trees everywhere torn asunder and his shuriken laid everywhere, whilst Boruto himself lay exhausted in a heap on the edge of the lake. Scratches covered his body and his chakra levels were dangerously low, so low that he could feel his heartbeat racing out of control, pounding uncontrollably. The stress that he'd put his body through was ridiculous and the strain had left every muscle screaming out in agony.

The boy gritted his teeth, before he sat up, sweat dripping down off his forehead onto the surface of the lake. The glance he got of his features scared him. It was an angry face, one so filled with rage that he looked away. "Is this what Dad warned me about when I was younger?" he whispered, his voice terse. As he brushed the sweaty locks out of his eyes, he stood up shakily, trying to get back into his taijutsu stance, before he sank to one knee from the pain. The weights on his arms feel like a million kilos and he wanted to tear them off and just sleep, but he couldn't. What he'd learnt from years of watching Lee is that if he fails, he needed to punish himself by training even harder.

"Now that I'm out of chakra, I should try to build my endurance." Again, he stood up and started to run, pushing himself through the agonising pain in his legs. As he completed the first lap, he felt the presence of another person, someone trying quite hard to not be seen. He ignored them, and he continued to run around the large lake, running harder and harder before coming to a stop after a while, as he attempted to catch his breath. The puffing was heavy, the tired blonde trying desperately to catch his breath as the mystery figure came out from the forest. The pallid skin tone showed just who it was as the other boy walked slowly over.

Boruto grunted a semblance of greeting, before taking a swig from his canteen. Inojin nodded back before sitting down next to him. The two sat quietly for a while, before Inojin reached out and put a hand on top of the other boy's arm. The boy's eyes met for a moment and Boruto looked away quickly with a scowl on his face. He always hated how easily Inojin always got into his head with the minimum amount of effort.

"Boruto. You need to stop this," he quietly whispered. Inojin had sat down and was lying back on the grass with his deep green eyes following the clouds, a habit he'd picked up from his time spent around Shikadai. "You're hurting yourself and you're hurting your friends." Boruto shrugged and looks at the sky, not wanting to meet the other boy's eyes. "You have to stop this, if not for Sarada and the others, for me." A gentle smile flickered onto his face. "Dad always tells me that when he was younger, he never had anyone he cared about nor trusted, especially after his brother died. Then he met your dad and Sakura and he realised that just because you've lost someone important, it doesn't mean that your life is less without them."

He smiled and it's a bright, happy one, full of warmth that pierced Boruto's walls of defense he'd put up, elaborately dismantling them. He grunted softly and started to detach his weights; he's too exhausted to continue training for the moment. The heavy training weights crunched into the ground throwing up a light dust cloud and crunching the ground down. Inojin's eyebrow raised a few notches at the loud clunk, underestimating the weight contained with the subtle braces. A faint memory of his mother talking about Rock Lee and his weights made him realise why Boruto is training with those weights. He knot his brow again, not impressed by the implication.

"Inojin, you need to let me train, alright? You can train with me, but don't try to stop me," Boruto stated quietly and for a moment Inojin missed the former bouncy and happy go lucky tone that the boy had, but he kept his mind on the task at hand.

"Fine, if you won't stop training, then I'm going to join you in your training," smiled Inojin, trying to bring some sort of levity to the conversation. "Let's practice our taijutsu, Sensei has been slacking on my taijutsu training of late and I'd like to actually have a decent spar." For years, he'd struggled with his taijutsu, being constantly outclassed by Shikadai's speed and Chouchou's raw strength, so he'd been training on the side with his mother and father, when they're not out on missions. Whilst his dad was more of a hand-to-hand fighter than his mum, he still wasn't on the level of someone like Lee, so he'd trained with various shinobi through the town for a long time. It's only now that he's finally getting a chance to show it off, as during his Chuunin exam attempt, he'd deliberately kept it under wraps, relying instead on his clan's jutsu, with occasional use of the ink monsters when he was on the defensive.

Boruto on the other hand is well known for taking after his father's raw form of taijutsu, utilising his large chakra reserves to abuse the Hyuuga techniques, beating anything in close range, using an improvised form of the Gentle Fist, Instead of using open palm strikes, it instead uses swift, closed fist blows to both physically injure, as well as destroy the tenketsu of the opponent.. So when the two started to face off and Inojin found himself facing one powerful blonde haired boy, he was instantly on the defensive, slapping back the fists, trying to defend his tenketsu, dreading the dangerous chance that the fists could hit him. As one fist came in, he dropped swiftly below it and swept his legs across, tripping the other boy, who disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Not wanting to risk being caught by a blow, he attempted to get back to his feet by pushing up into a handstand, only to be caught by another assault with a sharp kick and he found himself being knocked backwards onto the surface of the lake, where he plunged straight below the surface.

Standing on the surface, Boruto remained in a defensive stance, wary of a rebuttal attack from below, but Inojin surfaced a few metres away from him, crawling out onto the surface, hacking up water and groaning. Coolly, Boruto walked across and lifted him to his feet. "You lost, Inojin. Better luck next time." He turned his back on the other boy and walked off into the forest, grabbing his weights. All that remained behind was Inojin and the gentle sound of a breeze in the trees. The boy stood there for a while, before a few drops of rain started to splash on the surface of the water around him, prompting him to take shelter under a tree. Sighing, he realised that his efforts to coax out his friend was unsuccessful. He could only hope that Sarada or Shikadai would have more luck. Wringing out his long hair, he started to make his way back towards the forest.

. . .

Sarada was eating dango inside the old store when she saw Boruto come past, hands shoved so forcefully in his pockets that one would think he was trying to rip them open. Quickly getting up, she grabbed the remaining two dumplings and jogged to his side, holding them up in greeting.

"Hey Boruto-kun, are you hungry?" She smiles, hoping that he'll join her at the least for some food, it's been ages since she's actually seen him eat, be it ramen or other. He glances at her for a bare second, before shrugging and grabbing one of them. As he quietly chews on it, she notices just how scratched up he is. "Woah, how hard have you been training? You look like you've been through a shredder." The glare she got in return was so cold and out of character that she actually recoiled for a moment before regaining her composure. She tilted her glasses slightly and smiled, "Well, you can't improve that much by yourself, you need a training companion. You should come back and train with the rest of the team. It's not the same without you." The sombre note seemed to get his attention and he glanced back at her, a faint trace of his former personality stretched across his face.

"Yeah. I miss it too. Tell Konohomaru-sensei that I'll train with you guys tomorrow," he said quietly, before flicking his dango stick at her forehead. She flinched before punching him in the arm, causing her to flinch again when she made contact with the…oddly hard aspect of his forearm

"You ass," she laughed, "What the hell do you have under your jacket?" Another shrug, the façade coming straight back up.

"I got some weights made for me, like the one's Lee-sensei used to use."

"But why? You're already really quick, why would you need to be faster?" It's occurred to her before to use the weights, but considering her tendency to use her sharingan in conjunction with her techniques made her less likely to rely on taijutsu. Her focus on genjutsu had come in handy many times for their team, most notably during the second stage of their Chuunin exam attempt, in which she'd cast an opposing team under a large scale genjutsu which had left the incapacitated for the better part of a week.

His eyes still faced forwards, not meeting hers and he quietly murmured "I need to be the fastest and strongest, Sarada, I can't just sit on my hands and hope to be stronger, and this is the easiest way."

"Boruto, you know that seeking revenge isn't going to help you. Look at papa, he learnt nothing from it and I'm sure your da-," Before she'd even finished saying it, he shoved her backwards, anger lighting his eyes.

"Don't you dare talk to me about what he would and wouldn't want!" It's like his tone was filled with ice and his voice was sharpened, as if knives were in his mouth. She stood back up and didn't back down.

"Every time we talked, he told us about how he didn't want hatred and how hatred was the enemy of all, he wouldn't want this. There's got to be another way Boruto."

"Get lost, Sarada, I don't have time for you now." With that, he jumped up onto the roof, bouncing away into the distance, heading towards the city behind the stone faces of the Hokage. She groaned in frustration, before dusting herself off. That was a disaster. Head down, she walked slowly through the village to her home, where he mother and father were sitting on the porch, having a small lunch together, whilst her little sister Hikari was running around in the garden, throwing kunai and generally having a fun time of it. Katsuro was quietly reading a book with his legs kicked up on the couch and he nodded a greeting to Sarada as she entered. "Hey Mama, hey Papa, hello Katsuro." After being formal she quickly ruffled her little sister's hair with a smile on her face, before planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Hey Sarada, how was your day?" Sakura was bright as always, though it looks like she's tired from the shift at the hospital. Although, she and Papa had been much more subdued of late, ever since the funeral; it hit the both of them hard and she knew that they were both grieving in their own ways.

Sarada supposes it's because they never expected Naruto to be the first out of them to die, even before Kakashi. Her father was even more introspective since the death and her mother's smile was just a little more subdued. It was intensely saddening to the girl to see her parents so lost and sad, so she'd tried her best to keep her positivity.

"It was okay, Mama, I tried to talk to Boruto about his stupid revenge, but he's just so focussed on it that I can't break him out of it." The look that your father and mother passed between each other is so evident that even Katsuro raised his eyes from the book he was reading. It peeves Sarada that at times he acts like the older sibling when in reality, he's 5 years younger than her. Where does he get off having eyes like a hawk anyway? She had to either wear glasses or use her sharingan just to maintain any semblance of decent vision.

"Sarada, did Boruto specifically say he's going to seek revenge for Naruto?" Sasuke's tone was calm, but there was a distinct sense of urgency to it.

"Yeah, he said he wants to hunt down the shinobi who killed his dad and that he's gonna train really hard to do it," she mumbled, already regretting saying anything about it and before she's even finished talking, Sasuke stood up dramatically, his cloak flicking around him in a sweep. Sarada inwardly grins; this is playing out just as she'd wanted.

"I'll see you all at dinner; I'm going to go talk to Boruto." Her father is forever brash, never able to shake that old sense of arrogance that had plagued him for many years. With a shrug, she moved over to the couch, shoving her brother to the side. He grunted and shouldered her back, before settling back in. She always enjoyed the time she had at home, because the Uchiha's were quiet. They lived in a peaceful way; training together, doing their jobs and keeping the house orderly. It's definitely more than can be said for the Uzumaki's, who were renowned for the chaos that regularly burst out and their loud righteous behaviour.

Well, they were.

She sighed inwardly. That got sad really quick.

Sakura had been quietly twiddling her hair since Sasuke left, before getting up and putting the tea-towel she'd been holding in her left hand on the table. "I've got to go to the hospital, I'll be home later this evening. Sarada, look after your brother and sister, I don't want to come home to a disaster, alright?" She nodded and her mother left after grabbing her work bag. Grunting, Sarada set to sweeping up the dust that had collected around the front doorway and started to clean the house, whilst her brother amusedly jeered at her. It was not long before he found himself armed with a mop and a red tinted glare from his sister.

. . .

Sasuke strode through the village, his cloak billowing around behind him. As he powered through the village, he found himself analysing all the differences from when he was young, a habit of his since he'd returned to the village. The buildings are all so different from when he had originally walked through them alongside the rest of Team 7. After the destruction of the village during the invasion so many years ago, the reconstruction effort had left the village with an entirely new façade. A glance up at the stone faces; of his best friend and brother reminds him that the village is more than just a village anymore, as he looked at the towering buildings that make up the skyline.

He grunted before continuing on, ignoring some of the sideways looks he got as he walked through the village, by now well used to them. They've slowed down over the years, as he'd proven his dedication to restoring his honour and protecting Naruto's dream. He once thought that he should take up Danzo's mantle and guard the village from the shadows, but some well-placed advice from Naruto had convinced him that he should guard the village in the light. So he stood guard over the village and had done so proud for the past 14 years, working tirelessly to maintain trust and safety within the village. As the time had passed, he'd gained a lot of respect with the village, especially among his former classmates who'd been the longest warming up to him due to their close proximity with him during his "darkness" era. With time, they'd all accepted that he'd reformed and were close with him once again. However, (mainly among some shinobi families), he was still regarded as a man not to be trusted. It was for this very reason that he'd rebuffed the offer to take Naruto's place as Hokage after the man's death, simply because he wasn't the ideal man to unite the village, instead suggesting Konohamaru, who was well on his way to becoming a man regarded by many as a leader of men and extremely hard worker. He'd trained the offspring of both the Uchiha and Uzumaki with brilliant results during their first Chuunin exam attempts. Still, there was a lot of pressure upon him to take up the Hokage mantle, and he still wasn't sure if he'd completely rebuke it.

Sasuke smirked and nodded a greeting to Tenten as he passed by her weapon store. She grimaced and flipped him off, eliciting a chuckle as he walked off towards the Uzumaki residence. If he could find Boruto and talk to him, then maybe he can make the difference. As he wandered, he couldn't help but feel an odd sense of déjà vu, but with an odd sense of inversion. So long ago, Kakashi had tried to warn him about the dangers of revenge, yet here he was planning to repeat the same speech upon the next generation. An inward groan reverberates through him, he's getting old. Not even 33 and he felt old as shit.

Flicking off the age anxiety, he found himself in front of the Uzumaki residence and smiled sadly at the carved wooden sign out the front, done by Naruto and Boruto as a bonding exercise when the boy was 6. A gentle rap on the front door brought forth a tall girl with dark blue hair to the front door and her eyes widened when she looked up a little at him. The look on her face was one he hasn't seen in a while. Resignation, tinged with sadness.

"Hey Sasuke-ojisan. Did you want to see mum?" Himawari was usually a bouncing ball of energy, taking after her father so much that he struggles to understand how Hinata manages (managed) looking after the two of them. He nodded and entered behind her, taking off his shoes at the entrance. She guided him through the corridors and he realised with a jolt that she was taking him to the bedroom. She rapped three times on the door before leaving him alone and he entered. What he saw inside jolted him to his core.

Hinata sat inside, wrapped in one of Naruto's Hokage cloaks, quietly staring at something in her hands. Sasuke entered the room silently and walked over to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder, which elicited no response whatsoever, just more silence. She didn't even move at his touch, a fact that disturbed him more than anything. She just sat, silent, barely moving, and her breath barely audible. If he couldn't sense her chakra, he could almost mistake her for a statue.

"Hinata," he speaks finally, his words so quiet, as if to avoid disturbing the peace, the fake serenity. "You need to come out of here, there's more to the world than Naruto." For a few moments, the words hung in the air, before the woman twisted violently.

It's evidently that he's said the wrong thing as she twists out of his grip and faces him, eyes raw and bloodshot, and her hair tangled and wiry.

"How dare you. HOW DARE YOU." The escalation in sound caused Sasuke to recoil, actually feeling shocked at the verbal onslaught. "The only man I loved, the only person I could ever love is gone, and you have the audacity to tell me that there's more than him?" The venom dripping from her tone was so shocking that Sasuke had to mentally remind himself that this is Hinata he was talking to, not Ino or Tenten. "Every day I wake up, only to find that he's not there, not there looking in my eyes and telling me how beautiful I am. When I try to cook breakfast for the children, he's not there telling Boruto stories from his rookie days, not telling Himawari how strong she's getting, or running around with Mina singing songs at the top of his lungs. I would have thought you Sasuke, out of anyone, would understand how much that hurts." Her words cut deep into Sasuke's usually impenetrable armour, pushing him beyond shock and into anger.

"Hinata, calm down, this isn't helping ma-"

"Shut up, Sasuke." Her byakugan had unknowingly activated and she looked absolutely terrifying. "I can't save my son from what you went down, so it's up to you; now let me mourn in peace." It startled him that she's perceived what he's here to do, even in her dazed state. He nodded quickly, stood up and left, holding his hand on the doorway and casting one more lasting glance at the woman. It hurt to see such a strong woman so broken, but it showed him just how deeply her love for Naruto ran. As he stood outside of the room, he felt his own emotions fluctuate, the pain from his friend's death coming to the surface, a small tear formed in his right eye and dribble down his face, splashing on the floor. Sobbing gently for a few moments, he regained his composure, gently brushing his eyes as he tried to stem the flow.

He never realised how much he'd relied on that man. How many times that he'd slipped backwards, taking a few tentative steps back towards his anger in stressful situations, only to find that man beside him, and reminding him of just how good he was.

Himawari wandered back past him with a sympathetic look on her face, those whiskers on her face so similar to her father and brother. Groaning, he stood up to his full height and looked across at Himawari and her sister, both who were looking on with their small eyes. "Boruto's out the back, he's sitting on the patio." She left after that, cooing gently, trying to cheer up her young sister, looking so much older than she had any right too. The girl was only 12, yet she looks like a tired teenager. A tired adult. It's something he hasn't seen since he was a teenager himself.

Sasuke slowly walked out through the house, running his hands upon the photos on the wall. Naruto's wedding, Boruto's birth, Hinata and Naruto holding hands whilst standing on a lake reflecting a beautiful sunset. So many memories, so many happy times, yet none of the remaining people in the house reflect them anymore. They merely looked like sallow versions of themselves, hollow empty caricatures. As he came to the end of the hall and exited into the backyard, he noticed a smashed frame on the ground and picked it up, ignoring the stab of pain as a sharpened piece of glass sliced through the rough skin of his hand. The photo is of Naruto with Boruto sitting on one shoulder, Himawari on the other and Mina in his arms. The smile is so full of life that it almost makes him want to crush it in his hand. In that moment Sasuke was so utterly thankful for his family, his children and his loving wife that he could cry on the spot, but he decided that wouldn't set a good precedent for the conversation with Boruto. Steeling himself, he opened the door, his bloody hand leaving a mark across the handle, and finds the teenage Uzumaki lying on the lawn, spinning a kunai around his finger.

He crouched down in front of Boruto and roughly snatched the kunai from his hands, spinning it around before clenching it in his fist. _He has his own weighted shuriken. _Sasuke threw it down into the ground before sitting down in front of the boy. The look Boruto gave him is one of disdain which something not entirely unexpected. Sasuke didn't even wait for the smart assed comment to come, simply opting to go for cold hearted dialogue.

"Quit now." The words came out of his mouth so quickly that he felt a flash of his old anger shimmer. He immediately shut down the pleasure that he got from it and looked in the younger man's eyes.

"All that will come out of this selfish obsession is pain. Pain for yourself when you realise that one's man blood is not enough. Pain for your mother when you are eventually hunted down because your revenge has consumed you so wholeheartedly and she is left alone again. Revenge is a drug, Boruto, with the most violent of addictions." Sasuke rolled his shoulders and his rinnegan and mangyeko sharingan activated, taking in the boy's shudder. "These eyes, they show my hatred and pain. Do not pursue this path; you will gain nothing but loss." He closes his eyes again and allows the dojutsu to fade away. Quietly, he got back to his feet, brushing the dust off himself and began to leave when he heard the boy respond quietly.

"I won't make the same mistakes you do. I'll do it better." Sasuke froze and looked back at the boy whose blue eyes were defiant and cold. It was like looking into a mirror that showed his past self, furious eyes and all. There's so much of himself in Boruto right now that he wouldn't be surprised if the boy started ranting about restoring his clan's honour. Of course, he didn't, merely sitting back down, eyes turned upwards at the sky.

"Boruto, if you do this, I will pursue you. None of us will let you make the mistake of pursuing the cycle of hatred, did you learn nothing from Naruto?" It seemed like today was Sasuke's day of faux-pas as the look of anger showed him the error he'd made. In a flash the boy had the kunai drawn and launched it quickly, straight at the older man, who caught it effortlessly. He gritted his teeth; he'd never had the way with words that someone like Naruto or Shikamaru did.

"I see. I'll be watching you Boruto." With that the elder Uchiha left, knowing that nothing he could say today would be able to stop the boy. The repeat, the sheer fact that this is happening again infuriated him all the way to his core. As he walked hurriedly back through the village, he was already planning on what he needed to do next. There were some shinobi he needed to see, people who he swore he would no longer see. He groaned. Sakura would not be at all impressed by where this was going, or where he had to go. A faint throbbing from his hand also reminded him to ask his wife for a quick patch up, preferably before he told her about his plans. _What a pain_.


	3. Vertigo

Sarada stood alone on top of the Hokage tower, her crimson eyes panning over the higher village. So much life up there, yet hardly anyone from the lower village would venture up there, deeming it be the home of boring civilians with boring lives. They ran back and forth all day, doing such menial things and being caught up in them that they barely even thought about the aid of the lower village, the ones who did the actual work. The combined efforts of the Sixth and Seventh Hokages had improved the nation's technology and brought it forwards much further than anyone could have ever expected, but there was still a desire for people to do the dirty work, to go further and work harder than the merchants or businesspeople. A lot of the time, shinobi were used to fight off bandits, slave merchants and other sorts of undesirable types. Whilst they no longer were employed for the usual assassination or intelligence missions, more often than not, shinobi were still assigned with the dirty work that the civilians couldn't bring themselves to deal with.

Sarada had been sent on a few B rank missions since her promotion to Chuunin and spent a lot of time training, never wanting her talents to be underutilised or undertrained. Mostly it'd been simple groups of not very talented bandits, committing petty crimes or threatening heads of small villages throughout the Fire Country. Although, on one notable occasion, she'd been sent out with Boruto to take out a decently ranked bandit who'd been attacking farmers for no reason other than he liked to kill people. He was a fan of his long sword, which made it difficult for Boruto (who was such a fan of close quarters combat) to keep up, but Sarada had stayed back and kept the man off-guard with shuriken until Boruto could find an opening. They'd managed to bring him back in chains and had been paid well for it, bringing a bright grin to both of their faces and hearty congratulations from their parents. She smiled a little at the memory, before clenching her fist, thinking of how different Boruto was now. _That idiot tried to strike Papa! Didn't he remember all the stories were heard about our dads? _After all of the teens had tried to talk Boruto around, they had met up and discussed their various attempts to talk Boruto around, as well as their various failures. She had read out the letter her dad had left her before he took off, in which he talked about his attempt to talk to Boruto and how he was going to find someone that "would fix the problem". Whilst Sarada had a lot of faith in her father, sometimes his tendency to run off without telling anyone what he was doing was a source of frustration. She knew that he'd probably come through, but she wished he'd at least be less secretive.

Inojin had reported his disappointing failure with a look of anger in his eyes as his hand ran along his bruises that lined his face. Shikadai had had a sheepish look on his face when he reported that he'd been dragged off to deal with family politics, as there was a planned visit from the Kazekage soon to show support for Konoha during its period of unrest before the choosing of a new Hokage. He'd promised to try and drag Boruto along to talk to his uncle, but he'd muttered something about how tiresome it would be, before seeing a pointed glare directed at him. He'd shut up pretty quick after that. The group had split off after that leaving Sarada alone with Inojin who looked a bit dazed, and more than a little bit contemplative.

"Do you think that Boruto is planning on leaving the village to get revenge?" His big eyes had bored into hers, making her feel almost a little uncomfortable. Inojin, whilst quite emotional like his mother, did tend to show off a cold almost emotional side when he would think about things overly hard. She'd felt a chill run through her body at the thought of Boruto leaving the village, not only because of her feelings for him, but because he'd been one of her oldest friends, knowing him as long as she could remember. A shrug and a nonchalant shake of the head had been her response and he'd left in a puff of smoke, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She sighed a little and decided to go looking for Boruto again, if he hasn't been found by one of the others. Deciding to visit the place where they'd always hang out when they were younger, Sarada turned and jumped off the building roof, heading towards her destination. The clearing around the place was surrounded with a barbed wire fence, obviously designed to keep out civilians and young shinobi, but she ignored it, leaping up and over, landing lightly on her feet, before straightening her clothes with a smirk. She'd always excelled with her acrobatics and they'd only gotten better since she'd awakened her Sharingan.

As she walked through the overgrown path, she lamented over days past, of times spent sparring with Boruto before she heard a slight crunch and saw the slightest movement from the corner of her eyes and spins, whilst ducking quickly, narrowly avoiding the kunai as it soared over her head. She reacted in kind, throwing one of her own, aiming for where they'd been launched from mere seconds ago, but the shadow was already gone, flashing back in front of her, blonde hair flying around like a maddening halo. Another smirk twisted across her mouth and she lashed her arm out, grabbing onto his jacket, before kicking off with her feet, causing him to smack into the ground hard. Taking the momentary lapse into account, she activated her sharingan, and the two tomoe flashed as the blood red seeps into her eye. Boruto grimaced as he stood up before recognising the superior look on her face and frowned.

"Fuck, Sarada, I could have killed you," he said, worry evident in his voice.

She laughed out loud at that, "You say that like you ever could." Smirking, she adjusted her glasses, before continuing, "Face it, you couldn't, even if you wanted to." A warm smile spread across her face. They haven't bantered like this since before he found out that his father had been murdered.

Shaking his head in frustration, he looked into her red eyes. "So, what do you want? You obviously came to say something, so why not say it?" His tone was stressed and it's evident that he was not interested in anything that she had to say.

"I want to spar with you, let's train like we used to." The words came out before she'd even registered what she was saying, "If you're so determined to do this, then let me in. Don't do this alone." Inwardly she flinched, knowing how much hell her parents would rain down upon her if they heard her saying these things, especially downright treasonous thoughts.

Boruto laughed at that and then smirked before speaking in a snarky tone. "Oh really? So you're not gonna threaten me like your dad, or try to convince me with friendship like Inojin? You've just given up on keeping me off this path?"

"Well, if there's anything I learnt from our parents and their stories, it's that trying to keep Papa in the village did nothing. Maybe if Mama had accompanied him, he wouldn't have fallen so far, or hurt so many people. So I'm here to keep your head straight, and I'm sure we can convince Inojin and Shikadai as well."

He shrugged at that. "Your funeral. But the instant you guys weigh me down, I'm ditching you, we clear?" She gave a nonchalant nod in response, before looking in his eyes.

"Big words from the guy who's currently clad in weights." The playful tone signalled a return to the less tense atmosphere and he smiled and it was so genuine that she felt her heart flutter a little, before forcing it down. _Not the time to be thinking about romantic feelings. _Whilst she scolded herself mentally, Boruto grabbed his kunai from the bushes and tossed it towards her, hilt first. She grabs it and nearly dropped it, the weight surprising her.

"Weighted kunai?"

He nods, the grin on his face evident from how pleased he is with himself. "Yep, based it off Gramp's design, and made it so that I can eventually use it to do the Flying Raijin." The smugness in his tone was almost enough to make her grit her teeth in frustration. This wasn't the first time Boruto has tried to mimic things that his father and grandad had done, though it seems like he's been having a bit more success than with some of his past endeavours.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" She glanced over the blade, memorising its design, the longer pointed blade and the reduced wait in the hilt. Making sure to commit it memory, she handed it back to him, content that she knows enough about it to counter it if the time comes. "Is this all you've been working on?"

He shook his head and presented his heavily calloused palm, and set his face in a pained expression as he apparently attempted to visualise something. It startled her when she noticed the sparks coming from his hand as he channels more energy into it, his face contorting and minute droplets of sweat starting to ride to the surface of his skin. Grinning, he poured more chakra into his hand and the sparks begin to increase before eventually he relaxed and the sparks fade away and he slumped, looking absolutely exhausted and sinking down onto one knee. She raises her eyebrow delicately.

"That's new."

Whilst she says it with an impressed tone, she quietly puzzled over the attempt to learn the new technique. _Is it because he thinks that it'll make him stronger?_ _Does he think that using that will give him the edge he needs in a fight? He doesn't even have a Sharingan to counter out the negative effects of the Chidori. It's interesting to know that he has an affinity for Lightning Release, though. _Boruto tilted his head gently, looking at her, his blue eyes piercing through her red ones. "You're worrying about the side effects of it, aren't you?"

She's stunned that he read her face so well, Papa had spent so long emphasising to her the importance of being able to disguise one's emotions when trying to get information. _I'm sorry Papa. _Shrugging slightly, she made a gesture with her hand. "A bit, though I know there are ways to get around the Chidori's weakness." _But it takes a long time reach that stage and the Sharingan makes it easier, _her internal monologue whispered, but she refused to say it out loud, knowing that he'd probably already accounted for that. She reached up and straightened her glasses again, the slightly skewed frames causing her to grimace. Years of wear and tear have warped the frames, but she likes to keep them as a sentimental symbol, not wanting to let go of the memories.

It was time to make the jump between planning and putting it into action.

"Fine, let's see how your new tricks are going for you, Boru," she laughed with a twitching at the corner of her mouth, bringing back her childhood nickname for him. She raised a hand and pointed at him.

"Show us what you got."

**. . .**

Inojin winced as the plate shatters in front of him, the loud noise harsh upon his sensitive ears. The loud voice of his mother rung out, as it does on nights like this. The two adults faced off, Ino ranting about how Sai was always home late, Sai responding coolly that she was pretty quick to talk, given her habit of drinking at work. Inojin sighed a little, grabbing a broom to sweep up the shards, being careful not to get between the two adults, as he hoped that it would be over quicker than some of the other ones.

"Ino, must you always get so hostile for such small things?" As always, his tone is controlled and measured, but with a touch of frustration that showed how he was gradually losing patience with the direction of the argument. However, it looked like his mother had taken offence to the suggestion of overreacting and she crushed the bottle in her hand, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"Why must you always be so calm? Why can't you be that much warmer?" she spat out, her voice incredibly low and contained. "You're emotional at the wrong times; I just want you to show that you care for me and your son." It's been a long time since he's heard her say something like this, so he held on to the hope that this may be the end of the argument. Seemingly, his father also picked up on the cue and swept in, pulling Ino tightly into his arms, nuzzling his face into her neck, and she stayed stiff for a few moments before wrapping her own arms around the man she fell in love with. Inojin let himself heave a great sigh of relief before throwing the shards into the trash can. While he ignored the sounds of his parents making up, he heard a knock at the front door.

Eager to get away from the recurring family drama, he walked towards the entrance and was surprised, but not unhappy to finding his teammates standing there. He nodded his head in his usual greeting to Chouchou and Shikadai, who were both looking miserable. Inojin frowned, looking from one to the other, "What's wrong with you guys? You look like you've been through a washing machine." It's true, both of the teens were soaked through, but he couldn't recall hearing any rain. Chouchou shrugs with a look of anger her face.

"We were coming back from the outskirts of the village where a storm is brewing, it's just passing over the village now, and it should start pouring any second. Can we chill here?" Talking with Chouchou is always a one way road with no stops. Either you go with her flow, or you get bulldozed over. Inojin sighed, before running a hand through his shaggy hair. He hadn't tied it up because he was cleaning, so he whipped a hair tie off his hand and tied it back into its ponytail.

"As much as I love having you guys around home, it's been one of those nights and I don't really want you guys around if it flares up again." The two nodded their heads, having been caught in the situation a few times before. "How about we go hang out somewhere in the village? It's not really great weather for training." Shikadai shrugged, content to just keep out of his house and away from his uncles. The pair had a habit of making him train even harder than he would on his own and he'd always whinge about how he couldn't get sand out of his intimate areas for weeks after.

The trio set out through the darkened village, occasionally nodding at other shinobi or civilians as they passed them in the street, Chouchou knowing the most people out of the three. Her habits of eating a lot as a child had brought her into contact with more people than the less sociable boys, Inojin having spent a lot of time alone, taking after his father's artistic streak and Shikadai actually actively holding disdain towards other people, preferring to entertain himself by exercising and staying on top of his training. It always amused the other members of his team that his most commonly said phrase was 'troublesome', yet he trained harder than they did and they never hesitated to remind him of it.

The dark skinned girl chuckled, before she brought her arms up with a smile on her face. "We should get something to eat, and hang out downtown." Inojin allowed himself a small smile, relaxing a little, releasing the tension he'd been holding in since his parent's fight earlier in the evening. Ever since they were kids, Chouchou helped him out whenever he was feeling down about something, and in more recent years had consoled him when his parent's had started to have their periodic arguments. She'd helped him realise that even though his parent's fought, they didn't actually hate each other. The two of them had even gone out on a few dates, before they both realised that they were better friends, remaining close, their dynamic completely unchanged.

Cheerfully, Chouchou linked arms with the two other boys, and dragged them towards her favourite dango store, talking about how she was looking forwards to her monthly visit to Kumo and how excited she was to be seeing Omoi again, as he would always give her some new weapons or training gear. Shikadai lamented over the fact that his uncles will be in town for a week more at the least and how waking up twice a night to find "scary fuckin' puppets of dead people" and "being thrown around in geysers of fuckin' sand" wasn't nearly as fun as it sounded (which didn't sound like anything resembling fun in the first place). Inojin laughed alongside the pair, just enjoying the sensation being around some of his favourite people.

When they arrived, the boys sat down while Chouchou walked off to grab a selection of dumplings for the group to eat. The boys threw their share on the table before lazily sitting back and chatting about various things. Shikadai began to tease Inojin for his crush on Boruto, before Inojin with a smirk asked him if he's done crushing on Himawari and the flush from the dark haired boy lets him know that he's hit a raw nerve. With a gentle laugh, he leaned back, pulling his hair back, untying, and then re-tying it back into its usual ponytail. "Uzumakis. They're all ridiculous."

Shikadai snickered, "I think you mean ridiculously attractive." Inojin sneered at the other boy, his lips curled back.

"She's like 12 dude, gross," Inojin laughs, "Keep your bloody perversion to yourself." Shikadai leaned forwards, clasping his hands together and cracking his joints.

"Try it Yamanaka, I can take you," he intoned lowly and for a few seconds, the two boys glared at each other, their intent clear before they both leant back cackling, an action which got cut short when the Akimichi girl returned, smacking Shikadai upside the head, before sitting down next to Inojin and tugging on his ear, twisting it till his mouth twitched.

"You both need to cut out the big-boy shit, it won't make your dicks grow," she laughed, before releasing her tight hold on his ear, leaving Inojin to grimace as the ear throbs painfully, whilst Shikadai rubbed the back of his head mournfully, looking unusually upset by the outburst of violence, before returning to his usual self. The Nara and Akimichi started to bicker and quarrel whilst Inojin just sat back smiling, watching the storm roll in and the rain start to come down. Ever since he was a kid, he had loved the sound and smell of rain, and his walls for years have been covered in drawings that he did of the rare rainstorms that would come through Konoha. Once he'd learnt how to use paints, the art had been replaced with more detailed pictures of the city during storms.

He slowly nibbled at his food, occasionally mumbling a response, but he quietly watched the evening rain and wasn't removed from his daze until a blushing girl came up to him and poked his shoulder. Raising his defined eyebrow, he turned to look at her. She smiled nervously, which prompted Shikadai to start snickering from behind his hand. Inojin ignored the Nara, returning her smile, and asked her politely why she was poking him and if she could cut it out.

The girl drew back a little, before steeling herself. "My name's Takara Nakamura, and I was wondering if I could hang out with you?" Her voice was sincere, but it had a nice ring to it. Inojin nodded, before looking to the other two shinobi with him.

"Are you cool with her hanging with us?"

Chouchou shrugged, "Yeah, she's probably cool. Just remember that I'm the coolest girl in this group." This drew an odd look from the new girl, but she dipped her head slightly in greeting.

"Whatever, not like we need more of your fangirls around, Inojin," he laughed, sending the girl into a slightly deeper shade of red. Evidently swallowing her pride, she sat down beside Shikadai, who jokingly brushes dirt off his shoulder, before Chouchou leaned over and smacked her knuckles on his forehead, knocking him backwards onto the floor. Takara giggled slightly, before realising that it might be rude, whilst Inojin snorted at the downfall of the Nara teen. Grumbling through his teeth, Shikadai reclaimed his seat, whilst shooting daggers at the brown haired girl.

Sensing a need to change the topic, Inojin looked over at the newest addition to their small group. "So, um… Takara? You've got your headband, but I honestly don't remember seeing you around often." The girl shrugged, a bit twitchy with all the eyes on her.

"Uh, well, my genin team were a recon team. We all specialised in gaining intelligence quickly, and leaving quickly, so we spent a lot of time honing our skills out in the field, helping out older teams by getting them information on criminals, then letting them finish the job. It was tough, but we did a lot of good." It bothered Inojin that she's talking in the past tense, and not like it's something she's done recently. "But now that I'm a Chuunin, I do a lot of stuff with other shinobi, outside of my old team." He watched as she twisted her hair around her finger, fascinated by the way her black hair looks when she curled it. Of course, Shikadai ruined the moment of quiet with his usual attitude.

"Well, at least you're not some shitty-ass genin trying to suck up." It always amused Inojin just how much of a foul mouth Shikadai has when he's trying to make people unnerved or uncomfortable, but given the circumstance, he opted to leer at him. The leer is quite clearly noted and the other boy backed off with a humph and closed his eyes.

The girl talked a little more about her family; her dad a merchant who ran a trading business in the city on top of the village, and her mother who was a nurse at the hospital and her little brother who's more interested in being a merchant than a shinobi. When she talked about this, it's evident that she was being pushed that way as well, but she then explained how it'd been her goal since she could remember to be a good shinobi. So she'd worked hard and made it through, forever believing in the same ethic that Rock Lee had; that hard work can still produce a good shinobi, regardless of their bloodline. The group continued to chat lightly after she was done introducing herself, talking about upcoming missions, about their day to day and any gossip they had heard. Shikadai tends to get a little quieter with the talk of family, and it's evident that he's still very much hurting, even though he'd never admit to the fact.

Inojin sighed. The 7th Hokage may very well have been viewed as one of the greatest Hokage's in terms of the era of peace he had brought with him, but even he couldn't stop all the flaws that had arisen with the new found peace. There'd always be death and sadness, it was in the human nature. It just needed to be accepted.

**. . .**

_The room is so quiet_, she idly wondered. Her amethyst eyes excruciatingly panned over the room, taking in the minute details, looking at the cracks, the flaws. The painting that they did together has faded a little, now that so many years have passed. Some of the pictures which adorned the walls have cracked glass and she questioned when that happened, trying to piece together the foggy parts of her memory. It had become a lot harder for her to remember things since… since it happened. She raised her hand to her face, confused by the sudden wetness and she realised that she was crying. That detached feeling spreads through her once more; the numbness spreading through her body like a virus and it chilled her to the core.

Hinata looked upwards towards the roof, her breath coming slowly and gently through her lips, her fingers clenched at her chest as that familiar pain came back to her. _How many days has it been since I last stood up? How many days since I left this confined room?_ The bitterness enveloped her worse than the numbness and she lay on her back, sobbing gently, bringing her knees up to her chest. She could hear the two girls playing out in the hallway, the burbles from the younger girl only hurting her more to hear. _If only I could bring myself to make it out of the room and see them. If only._

Steeling herself, she slowly and unsteadily stood up, emotions racking her body, weak from lack of sleep and food. Running her hand along the wall, she slowly stumbled, occasionally leaning on the wall for support, for a few seconds. A few minutes? How long it was she didn't really know. When she got to the door, she gently raised her hand out, feeling the trembling aches run through it. As her fingers brushed the door handle, she feels a gentle tremble run through her, consuming her whole being and mind. Her raven hair quivered from the increased shaking and she slowly sank to the floor, tears sliding down her face and dripping to the floor. Long hair cascaded down onto the floor as she sank slowly against the floor, her face pressed roughly against the floor as fell softly onto the hardened floorboards.

After a while, her sobs petered out, and she found herself staring at the roof, whilst lying on her back. Her fingers slowly grasped and ungrasped, feeling the emptiness between them. As her mind wandered, she saw the man beside her, his face so full of life and happiness, his eyes so bright. She tried to hold on to the image for a few more desperate moments before she faded away but then she was alone again. It was so utterly hopeless that she curled up and quietly whispered his name like an incantation, desperately searching for something of him within the cloak that covered her.

She wasn't sure just how long she had lain on the floor. Some light had filtered in but then it was gone but she didn't know if she'd really seen it. After what she assumed was some more time she heard a gentle rap at the door and raised those red raw eyes to see her daughter standing there, a determined look on her face. The girl knelt down next to her mother and planted a soft kiss on her face, before grabbing one of her mother's arms and lifting her upwards. She slipped under the older woman to support her weight, whilst still keeping that same expression upon her face. Hinata was in such a daze that she could hardly process what was going on, as she was led through their home. The paired passed an inquisitive Mina, whose white eyes followed her mother and sister gently, before she gently toddled after them. The three made their way to the garden, which was sheltered under a canopy. Usually it was covered with a shelter that let water in but reduced the sun a bit, but for now, the canopy was covered with a plastic tarp, evidently drawn over by Himawari to shelter the plants from the storm. As Hinata got over the odd realisation that her daughter had been keeping things in line, she noticed a small fountain. Himawari pointed to it with a smile and nodded at her mother, coming across as quite matronly. "Have a look, Mama."

The older Uzumaki walked across and looked at the fountain and felt an odd sensation run through her. The fountain had two tiers, with a swirling whirlpool in both, looping it around so that it kept moving in a continuous, circular motion. Hinata felt a small tear trickle down her face as she realised what it represented. "Himawari, did you?" Her voice was so small that it cracked and quivered, sore from its disuse. _When did Sasuke visit? Was that the last time I spoke? _Her thoughts swirled around and around her cluttered mind while she tried to process the fountain in front of her

"Dad might be gone, but we're never going to let his legacy die," Himawari whispered, her voice brave, fighting against her obvious inner turmoil. "It's always going to hurt because we love him, but this is just a small way to remember him, because if we keep going and try to forget how important he was, it's just not going to go away." As Hinata watched her daughter, she could almost see the love of her life saying the same thing. The look of determination, regardless of the circumstance reminded her so much of the man she would love her entire life and it was like the fog had lifted from her mind a little, even for the briefest of moments. She turned back to face the two girls and crouched down, arms spread wide and the look of sheer happiness warmed the woman's tired heart as she let her two girls embrace her for the first time in weeks.

"I missed you so much Mama," cried Mina, her voice so little and afraid that it broke her mother's heart to hear her sound so sad and alone. She squeezed her daughters tight in her arms, the long dark hair drifting over the other two girls' dark blue hair and the trio was one ball of tight emotions. It was only then that Hinata realised that someone was missing from their group, someone who should be there but wasn't.

"Hima, where's Boruto?" The look on Himawari's face at the question sent a cold chill down Hinata's back, although she wasn't sure what for.

"Boruto's been training lots, Mama, he's not really around home since that fight with Sasuke-sensei," and as soon as the world 'fight' was out of her mouth Hinata stood up with a look of sheer horror on her face.

"What? Sasuke-kun?" She had a blurry memory of Sasuke coming to console her, but she could barely remember anything about it.

"Sasuke-sensei came over to visit and tried to talk Boruto out of his obsession with trying to get revenge on the people who killed Papa," Himawari looked away, obviously trying to keep the emotion off her face, "He's been working so hard that people have been trying to stop him from doing it, but he just won't listen." She sighed, looking far older than she has any right to. Hinata averted her eyes, before wiping at her own red eyes. Looking back at the two girls who've made her life so much happier, she smiled gently before she reached out and took each of their hands, squeezing them tightly.

"You girls don't worry. Boruto, like you, is his father's son. He'll come around and do what's right in all good time." Now, if only she could convince herself of that. Slumping a little, she squeezed her daughter's hands once more and pulled them back into her arms again, snuffling gently into Mina's hair.


End file.
